Preparing for a dance show encompasses more than meets the eye

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“With every show, the dancer wants the crowd to be so amazed by their performance to where they’ll beg for more”, said Nazir Muhammad, co-captain of the Divergent Dance Team.

Before a show, the dancers take out time for preparation and choreography, whether, the dancer is doing a solo performance or will be in a group. The Divergent Dance Team practices two hours a day five days a week. “The team usually tries to have three weeks to a month of prep time for every show, Muhammad said.

They go over their choreography to make sure it’s clean and well put together. The team carefully repeats every move of their performance without music first to ensure perfection. “They run this through three times, to ensure everyone has the choreography down”, said Muhammad.

Some of the most important things to Divergent is the cleanliness of the dance, putting on a good show for the audience and most importantly the judges. When it comes to competition the main focus is cleanliness and energy as well as wowing the judges and crushing the competition.

“You don’t want to go before an audience and the judges sloppy. That’s why it is important to practice and perfect your art. For yourself and those watching as well”, said Muhammad.

“The process of choosing their songs depends on how it makes them feel, if the first eight counts of the song works for them and making sure it matches their choreography”, he said. If the song is a great catch, no matter the genre or tempo the dancer will go with it for their choreography.

Muhammad has been dancing for 19 years. “It’s life”, he says, “It has always been an outlet of escape for me. When I dance it brings forth my vision and my message to the world of who I am. I feel invincible as if I were on top of the world, that I can do anything I put my mind too.”

Divergent dances are choreographed to entertain and have a good time. “Because everyone can appreciate a good dance performance, especially one they’ll remember,” said Muhammad.

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